Shades of gray

NOVA

I stared numbly at the newspaper article with a header saying, "A just end for the wicked witch." I might have found it amusing if reading it hadn't filled me with raw bitterness. I saw the so-unflattering picture of me—a picture surely taken by one of my patients at the hospital—and a short statement below, telling that I had escaped from the prison after an attempted assassination of Alpha Heir's mate and that I died at the hands of lycans in the woods outside the Crimson Mountain Pack's territory.

Then I flipped to the second page and saw a large picture of Felix and Lya. Felix's hand casually rested on Lya's back, and her hand delicately touched Felix's other forearm. They were smiling, resembling an ideal loving couple. More bitterness flooded me.

"They must have found your blood in the woods," Asriel speculated. "I wanted your scent to be found by the rebels…" He hesitated for a moment and then added, "I apologize."

I peeled my eyes off the newspaper, my lips stretching int